Friday, December 13, 2013

The Demon's Kiss (pt 1)

This is a little different from what I have been posting up here. I'm actually writing a bit of a story here. Next portion will be up next week. I'll try to have a racy scene up at some point over the next few days. If you're curious about the world that this little story is taking place, read my book The Dragon's Daughteror my other blog.

They faced each
other with weapons drawn. The man was taller then the woman and he
seemed to have the advantages that went with being bigger. As some of
their people leaned against the split rail fence around the sparring
area, the woman sized her opponent. Green eyes narrowed as they
looked over his lean body. Astrid knew that body as well as the back
of her hand.

Just the night
before, they had tumbled into bed and made love as though it were the
last thing they'd do in life. Now, he stood before her with his long
knife at the ready and his black hair falling into his hazel eyes. A
wicked smirk curved his lips. It was clear that he had taken her
rejection of his offer of marriage seriously.

“You can walk
away,” she said. That smile turned into a grin as he leaned towards
her. That grin unsettled her but she kept her expression dour as to
not betray the way her heart lept at it. He took a step to the right,
keeping his hot gaze on her.

“You can say
yes,” he retorted. She ground her teeth. Astrid's rising temper
washed away all thoughts of how pleasantly his mouth felt on her
skin. The tall woman had sworn to marry none. When her father scorned
her, she amended it to only one who defeated her. The wiry strength
that she had inherited from Erik Shieldbreaker and the ruthlessness
that she demonstrated had defeated many suitors.

At first, her would
be husbands scoffed. Some thought to be 'merciful' and held back
their blows. What ever weapons they used, she bested them. Some she
had wrestled and choked into unconsciousness. Astrid the Maid was a
terror on the battlefield and her suitors learned this to their
embarrassment. Then came the dark haired man from out of the north.

He did not try to
flatter her. When he chose to attempt to court her, he did not bring
her gifts of finery or promise sweet words. Instead, he gave gifts of
weapons and spoke of his travels and battles. Astrid, despite her
efforts to remain cool, found herself intrigued by this man who spoke
to her of bloody things. When the riders came out of the west, Astrid
found him to be a worthy shieldmate.

In the drunken
revelry following that bloody victory, Astrid took him into her bed.
Now, almost a month later, he had tired of her refusals to wed him.
Astrid was angry. He had counted on that anger to muddy her wits.

As he moved about
her, his long knife glinting, she carefully turned, keeping him
before her. She spat out her answer in a tone that would have made it
an insult, if he wasn't so amused by the situation. “Make me,”
she snarled.

“As you wish,”
he said before moving. He seemed to flow like water. Astrid scrambled
aside, the tip of the knife barely missing her right arm. They were
to fight to first blood. As the experienced warriors danced about
each other, people watching began to place bets. He made his second
attempt and Astrid batted his arm away. She moved to strike with her
own knife but he had slipped out of reach.

His third attack
was different. His knife was held out to the side and his forearm
struck her across the neck. Astrid's eyes widened as she gasped for
air and fell back from the force of the blow. Before she could
respond to striking the ground, he was upon her. His knees trapped
her arms out beside her. He brought the knife down and delicately cut
her lower lip.

Astrid stared up at
him with hatred in her eyes. At first the people watching them argued
amidst themselves if he had actually cut her. As he stood, Astrid
moved quickly to attack him, blood dripping down her chin. The man
who had defeated her by surprise moved far faster then any of them
had expected.

He dropped down to
his knee and wrapped an arm about Astrid's neck. He held her hard
against his chest, his face a breath away from her ear. Quietly, he
said in her ear, “Fight me and you'll find far more favor then any
other who has come into my bed.” Astrid's eyes narrowed, his words
cutting through her anger by their pure strangeness. He abruptly let
go of her and she twisted before him.

Her knife flashed
but met empty air. Her fiancee stood behind her, reaching a hand
towards her in an apparent offer to pull her to her feet. Astrid made
her way to her feet and glared at him. She wiped the blood off her
chin with the back of her hand. The man before her arched his left
eyebrow slightly in a silent question.

Astrid brought her
knife up and threw it. It flipped end over end, striking her lover in
the shoulder. Where any other would have screamed at the injury, he
laughed. Fear snaked into the Maid's heart as he pulled the knife
from his wound and held it out to her. Where the others could not see
it, Astrid watched as his wound knit closed. She blindly reached back
as she moved to the edge of the sparring grounds.

He slowly stepped
towards her. Astrid shouted for a sword. One of the gathered dashed
off for the weapon as Astrid's black haired fiancee approached her
with a suggestive smile. “Come, take the knife,” he said. It
became apparent to the onlookers that something about this strange
man was inhuman when they realized that he did not bleed or seem to
suffer from his earlier injury. An anxious hand pressed the hilt of a
weapon into Astrid's grip.

As soon as her
fiancee came into reach, Astrid swung her sword hard. Steel met steel
and the black haired man laughed. Astrid rained blows down upon him,
keeping him back by force of blows. They disengaged and he grinned
with approval. “You fight as well as you fuck,” he laughed.
Astrid glowered at him.

“What are you?”
Astrid demanded.

He stepped towards
her and the air grew colder. Astrid's breath frosted in the air as he
approached. He reached forward and set a fingertip against the tip of
the sword. The blue steel's sheen began to dull as ice collected on
the metal. The cold burned down the blade and into the hilt, making
Astrid drop the weapon with a gasp.

He stepped forward
and dropped the knives that he held. As the metal hit the ground that
was frozen beneath his feet, it shattered. “Your husband,” he
answered before reaching forward and placing a hand against Astrid's
cheek. The air about her grew terribly, terribly cold. His touch,
paradoxically, seemed to burn her skin. Brilliant heat seemed to
throb beneath his skin. As Astrid began to shiver with that unnatural
cold, the man before her's smile turned tender.

“I have watched
you for a very long time, Maid,” he said as hoarfrost crept out
from where they stood and the people around them made signs against
evil and backed away. “I have burned for you,” he continued,
wrapping an arm about her. As that terrible cold settled around her
like some kind of strange phantom cloak, his body warmed her. Astrid
shuddered with cold.

He dipped his head
and set his mouth over hers. Slowly, he kissed her. That heat that
burned in him poured through his mouth and down her throat like wine.
It pooled in her chest and then began to spread through her limbs. As
they kissed, Astrid's golden hair darkened. Slowly it faded from the
color of honey to that of old straw and then to the shades of dead
leaves. Finally, it turned a deep almost blue black color.

Astrid found
herself consumed by that warmth he kindled in her veins. Hunger
burned through her and she ached to feel his body against hers again.
He broke the kiss and smiled down at her. Astrid the Maid and her
inhuman spouse stood in the center of what seemed frozen statuary.
The entire encampment had frozen. People and beasts froze solid where
they stood. Fires were extinguished by the pure cold that radiated
out from them.

Astrid, however,
didn't care. All she wanted was the taste of his kiss and the feel of
his skin.

About Me

I am happily married to my best friend. We have two wonderful little boys that are helping me to lose my mind. I'm an avid reader of books and poetry. I adore medieval and renaissance music. And I have more fiber art projects then I can count going on at a given time. It's to keep me from killing people. ;)